Booking Raises 2026 Guidance to 9/9/15, Allocates $700M for AI and Asia Growth
Booking raised 2026 guidance to 9/9/15 (gross bookings/revenue/EPS), above its 8/8/15 medium-term plan after 2025 delivered 10/10/18, and earmarked $700 million reinvestment expected to drive $400 million incremental revenue and $300 million net benefit. The company is scaling agentic AI tools that cut booking costs 10% and expanding Asia localization.
1. 2026 Guidance Exceeds Medium-Term Framework
CFO Ewout Steenbergen set 2026 targets at 9% gross bookings, 9% revenue and 15% EPS growth, surpassing the previous 8/8/15 model after 2025 delivered 10% bookings, 10% revenue and 18% EPS gains on a constant-currency basis.
2. $700 Million Reinvestment Program
The company scaled a self-funded reinvestment program to $700 million in 2026, projected to generate $400 million in incremental revenue and a $300 million net benefit by redeploying achieved transformation savings into growth initiatives.
3. Agentic AI Reduces Booking Costs
Booking is rolling out agentic AI travel tools across its brands, which cut average cost per booking by about 10% in 2025 through lower handling times and contact rates, although LLM-originated booking traffic remains very small.
4. Asia Localization and Growth
Asia is prioritized as the fastest-growing region, with Agoda deeply localized in markets like Korea and Booking.com adding a domestic payment option and moving beyond an agency-only model in India to capture new growth opportunities.